OFF THE RACES: Changing the rules
One of us(!) writes on CNN's debate rules change.
Elizabeth Warren said that being a 2016 running mate is "something I’m not talking about."
BIDEN: POLITICO profiles Steve Ricchetti, the Biden aide who's building the foundation for a potential 2016 run.
His trip to Florida is raising yet more speculation about a presidential run.
Frank Bruni, with some VP real talk: "He’s a profoundly awkward fit for this strange political moment, this season of outsiders and insurgents. Voters are sour on career politicians, and Biden’s career in politics spans about 45 uninterrupted years."
BUSH: His campaign is up with a "which candidate are you?" quiz aimed at underscoring Donald Trump's past liberal statements.
The Washington Post on Bush’s fight with Trump: "Bush is embarking on a risky strategy that could further fuel Trump’s unexpected rise and complicate his own path to the nomination. Allies of the former Florida governor insist that he had no choice but to adopt a more aggressive posture, elevating his feud with Trump to the marquee contest in the GOP primary contest."
CARSON: He raised $6 million in August, the AP reports.
CLINTON: The Washington Post: "While she was secretary of state, Hillary Rodham Clinton wrote and sent at least six e-mails using her private server that contained what government officials now say is classified information, according to thousands of e-mails released by the State Department."
But some perspective: “Government officials who have seen some of the correspondence say the conversations are generally benign. Some discuss classified programs or topics that have become well-known through public reporting, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe classified information.”
A new Washington Post/ABC poll puts her unfavorability rating at 53 percent, the highest since April 2008. (But that fav/unfav score is still better than Bush’s or Trump’s.)
She wrote an op-ed in the Manchester Union Leader about her plan to combat substance abuse: "Plain and simple, drug and alcohol addiction is a disease, not a moral failing — and we must treat it as such."
KASICH: He says he would be open to a "reasonable" increase in the minimum wage.
In New Hampshire, he said "My approach is going to be that I’m going to do the best I can, and you’ve got to listen, and if you like it, great. And if you don’t like it, I’ll cry for 10 minutes and then my life will be OK."
O'MALLEY: He's proposing doubling the number of AmeriCorps and Peace Corps positions.
PERRY: His super PAC has bought $406,000 on cable TV advertising in Iowa, the Washington Examiner writes.
Via NBC's Kailani Koenig, in another sign that Rick Perry's presidential campaign is running into trouble, John Kasich's campaign confirmed to NBC News that Perry's New Hampshire Political Director Dante Vitagliano is joining Kasich's New Hampshire team.
RUBIO: At an energy address in Oklahoma City, he's expected to say: "Washington continues to lean on the notion that handing out subsidies to favored companies while imposing new mandates and taxes on others is the way to seize our energy potential. But this didn’t work yesterday, it isn’t working today, and it’s not going to work tomorrow."
TRUMP: He had a late-night Twitter tussle with the Club for Growth.
And around the country...
Senate Majority PAC is up with a second New Hampshire ad taking aim at Kelly Ayotte, again tying her to "Washington special interests." A source that tracks buys says it's a $300,000 buy that runs through September 17 on broadcast and cable.
OBAMA AGENDA: Iran deal is looking like a done deal
The president is thisclose to clinching victory for the Iran deal.
NBC's Frank Thorp has your whip count right here.
The Wall Street Journal has the latest on the global stock outlook.
PROGRAMMING NOTES.
*** Wednesday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell will interview Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, Fmr. Gov. Ed Rendell, the Wall Street Journal’s Jeanne Cummings, the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza and NBC’s Chris Jansing, Craig Melvin, Claudio Lavanga and John Yang.
*** Wednesday’s “Live with Thomas Roberts” line-up: Frances Rivera interviews Fmr. Exec. Assistant FBI Director Shawn Henry and former NYPD officer Eugene O’Donnell about the manhunt for cop killers outside Chicago, Political Strategist and Draft Biden representative Steve Schale about VP Biden’s speech in Miami today, Boston Herald reporter Owen Boss about allegations a teen girl used texting to coerce her boyfriend into committing suicide, and Eugene Craig about starting the Kanye for President PAC.
